Spacecraft Mission News (English, German) – 08.11.18

Front Page / Titelseite

ISS: NASA 8K-Video

NASA’s 1st 8K Video from Space Is Just Awesome

High-definition video has a new home: the International Space Station. A new video from NASA shows the astronauts working on their experiments, recorded in 8K imagery so clear that it makes it feel like you’re floating right alongside them. „Microgravity unlocks new worlds of discovery,“ reads text in the video, which was a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). „The science being conducted aboard the International Space Station is answering questions that hold the keys to our future in space and on Earth.“

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Just Made Its First Close Pass by the Sun!

One of humanity’s newest spacecraft faced a harrowing test late Monday night (Nov. 5), darting just 15 million miles (24 million kilometers) of the surface of our sun.

That spacecraft is NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which launched in August with a daring mission to study the star that shapes our lives. To do so, it is flying a course of 24 close loops around the sun, the first of which reached what scientists call perihelion — the moment of closest approach — Monday at 10:28 p.m. EST (0328 GMT Nov. 6).

Feature – ISS Horizions Mission Alexander Gerst

Horizons’ is the name of ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst’s second mission to the International Space Station.The mission name evokes exploring our Universe, looking far beyond our planet and broadening our knowledge. Alexander would also like to make people realise that there is always a chance to go beyond their personal horizons. Alexander will be launched on 6 June with US astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev from the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft.Alexander will take over command of the International Space Station for the second half of his mission. Alexander Gerst is the 11th German citizen to fly into space. The astronaut is now in the last stages of training for his challenging spaceflight. The science programme is packed with European research: more than 50 experiments will deliver benefits to people back on Earth and prepare for future space exploration.

Further news / Weitere Nachrichten – Alexander Gerst

Launch, and return, updates

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst, NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev will welcome new arrivals to the International Space Station on 3 December: Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques, NASA astronaut Anne McClain and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko will increase the population of humans in space to six. The newcomers will be part of Expedition 57 for a few days, and will continue their mission as Expeditions 58/59 members only when Alexander and his crewmates undock from the Space Station.

Exerting the force, plumbing and melting in space

Gravity is constantly exerting its force on objects. When you lift a cup of coffee, you are moving it against gravity. Humans learn how to live with this force of nature from infancy – babies learn to adjust their grip to the weight of objects. In the weightless environment of the International Space Station astronauts need to adjust to the new world in space much like infants need to learn to hold on to objects. How his brain adapts to an environment where objects have no weight and decides how much grip is needed to move things is at the core of the Grip experiment.

Nasa’s InSight mission will target ‚Marsquakes‘

InSight will be the first probe to focus its investigations predominantly on the interior of the Red Planet. The lander – due to touch down in November – will put seismometers on the surface to feel for „Marsquakes“. These tremors should reveal how the underground rock is layered – data that can be compared with Earth to shed further light on the formation of the planets 4.6 billion years ago. „As seismic waves travel through [Mars] they pick up information along the way; as they travel through different rocks,“ explained Dr Bruce Banerdt, InSight’s principal investigator. „And all those wiggles you see on seismograms – scientists understand how to pull that information out. After we’ve gotten many, many Marsquakes from different directions, we can put together a three dimensional view of the inside of Mars.“

Media resources | InSight

Further news / Weitere Nachrichten – Insight

NASA has enjoyed a nice run of Mars-landing success lately, but that doesn’t mean the agency is getting cocky ahead of next month’s touchdown of its $850 million InSight mission. NASA’s twin Spirit and Opportunity rovers both aced their landings in January 2004, as did the Phoenix lander in May 2008 and the car-size Curiosity rover in August 2012. Regardless, InSight team members will doubtless be on tenterhooks as their spacecraft barrels into the Martian atmosphere at around 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) on Nov. 26.

Why NASA Chose a ‚Vanilla Ice Cream‘ Landing Site on Mars for the InSight Lander

Sometimes, boring is best — and that’s certainly true when you’re trying to set a lander down on the surface of Mars, where any eventfulness is likely bad news.That’s why scientists carefully chose a flat, featureless expanse of the Red Planet called Elysium Planitia for NASA’s InSight mission to touch down on to maximize the odds of everything going smoothly. The lander will arrive after a six-month cruise on Nov. 26.

InSight selects perfectly dull landing site

On November 26, NASA’s InSight spacecraft will touch down on an exceedingly featureless patch on the Martian surface. According to the InSight team, this plain, boring spot couldn’t be more perfect. The InSight lander aims to study and explore deep into the Red Planet. “It is InSight’s job to study the deep interior of Mars, taking the planet’s vital signs – its pulse, temperature and reflexes,” InSight principal investigator Bruce Banerdt of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. By sensing and studying below the Martian surface, scientists can better understand how the planet formed.

The Mars InSight Landing Site Is Just Plain Perfect

No doubt about it, NASA explores some of the most awe-inspiring locations in our solar system and beyond. Once seen, who can forget the majesty of astronaut Jim Irwin standing before the stark beauty of the Moon’s Hadley Apennine mountain range, of the Hubble Space Telescope’s gorgeous „Pillars of Creation“ or Cassini’s magnificent mosaic of Saturn? Mars also plays a part in this visually compelling equation, with the high-definition imagery from the Curiosity rover of the ridges and rounded buttes at the base of Mount Sharp bringing to mind the majesty of the American Southwest. That said, Elysium Planitia – the site chosen for the Nov. 26 landing of NASA’s InSight mission to Mars – will more than likely never be mentioned with those above because it is, well, plain.

Rocket Investigation Complete; Russia, Japan Announce Mission Updates

NASA is working closely with its International Space Station partner Roscosmos to move forward on crew launch plans. Roscosmos plans to launch the Progress 71 resupply mission on Nov. 16, and is targeting the launch of the Expedition 58 crew including NASA astronaut Anne McClain for Dec. 3, pending the outcome of the flight readiness review.

The three Expedition 57 crew members from the United States, Germany and Russia will soon be observing the 20th anniversary of the launch of the International Space Station’s first module. On Nov. 20, 1998, the Zarya cargo module was launched aboard a Russian rocket and placed into orbit beginning the era of station assembly.

Astronauts Prepare for Japanese Cargo Ship Departure

A pair of Expedition 57 astronauts trained for the release of a Japanese resupply ship Wednesday after a 41-day mission at the International Space Station. Japan’s seventh cargo ship, H-II Transfer Vehicle-7 (HTV-7), has one more mission though after it departs the orbital lab. If all goes as planned, astronaut Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) will command the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release the HTV-7, also called the Kounotori, Wednesday at 11:50 a.m. EST. Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor will back up Gerst in the cupola monitoring the vehicle and its telemetry as it slowly backs away from the space station. The two astronauts reviewed departure procedures and practiced robotics controls on a computer today. NASA TV will broadcast live the space freighter’s departure beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Astronauts Release Japanese Spaceship

Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), with back-up support from NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, used the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to release a Japanese cargo spacecraft at 11:51 a.m. EST. At the time of release, the space station was flying 254 miles over the northern Pacific Ocean. Earlier, ground controllers used the robotic arm to unberth the cargo craft.

This Space Station Air Recycler Could Help Astronauts Breathe Easier on Mars

A new life-support system that can recycle breathable air is being installed at the International Space Station, promising to dramatically decrease the amount of water that needs to be brought to the orbital outpost to make oxygen. The system represents an important step toward so-called closed-loop life-support systems that could one day sustain space crews indefinitely without supply missions from Earth. Such systems will be crucial for future long-duration missions to the moon and Mars.

Earth / Erde

A home for the Flyeye

ESA’s plans to deploy a network of asteroid-detecting ‘Flyeye’ telescopes has come one step closer to reality. Last week, the Agency signed an agreement with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to locate the first-ever Flyeye telescope atop the 1865-metre Monte Mufara mountain in Sicily.

ESA ready for weather mission liftoff

Following months of simulation training, teams at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre have completed the all-important ‘dress rehearsal’ before MetOp-C’s liftoff on 7 November from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. “During this pre-launch dress rehearsal, operators were for the first time connected to the satellite through an umbilical cable as it waits upon its Soyuz launch vehicle,” explains Lorenzo Guillermo, ESA’s Ground Operations Manager.

Soyuz Rocket Launches European Weather Satellite MetOp-C Into Orbit

Europe’s latest Earth-observation satellite blasted off into orbit today (Nov. 6) on a mission to improve weather forecasts and monitor changing climates around the globe. MetOp-C, the third and final satellite of the European Meteorological Operational satellite program (MetOp), lifted off from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 7:47 p.m. EST (0047 GMT on Nov. 7), on a European Soyuz rocket provided by the private launch company Arianespace.

NASA’s Dawn Mission to Asteroid Belt Comes to End

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has gone silent, ending a historic mission that studied time capsules from the solar system’s earliest chapter. Dawn missed scheduled communications sessions with NASA’s Deep Space Network on Wednesday, Oct. 31, and Thursday, Nov. 1. After the flight team eliminated other possible causes for the missed communications, mission managers concluded that the spacecraft finally ran out of hydrazine, the fuel that enables the spacecraft to control its pointing. Dawn can no longer keep its antennae trained on Earth to communicate with mission control or turn its solar panels to the Sun to recharge.

Now That Dawn Is History, Should NASA Send Another Mission to Ceres?

Nearly three years since NASA’s Dawn mission arrived at Ceres, the spacecraft has run out of fuel. Is it time to start thinking about sending another mission to the dwarf planet? The $467 million Dawn spacecraft launched in 2007 on a mission to study the two largest objects in the asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres. After studying the asteroid Vesta from orbit for about a year, it moved on to Ceres, the smallest dwarf planet in the solar system and the largest space rock orbiting in the asteroid belt.

NASA Actually Canceled The Dawn Mission In 2006

„NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has gone silent, ending a historic mission that studied time capsules from the solar system’s earliest chapter. Dawn missed scheduled communications sessions with NASA’s Deep Space Network on Wednesday, Oct. 31, and Thursday, Nov. 1. After the flight team eliminated other possible causes for the missed communications, mission managers concluded that the spacecraft finally ran out of hydrazine, the fuel that enables the spacecraft to control its pointing. Dawn can no longer keep its antennae trained on Earth to communicate with mission control or turn its solar panels to the Sun to recharge.“

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft — which orbited the two largest objects in the asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres, during its long and accomplished life — has run out of fuel and died, agency officials announced today (Nov. 1).

Lights on Uranus

On the first day of the 15th annual European Space Weather Week, this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope fittingly shows a striking occurrence of celestial weather in the outer reaches of the Solar System: an aurora on Uranus.

Beyond Solar System / Milchstraße & Kosmos

Planetenjäger Kepler

Kepler: Mission des Planetenjägers beendet

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft — which orbited the two largest objects in the asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres, during its long and accomplished life — has run out of fuel and died, agency officials announced today (Nov. 1).

Hubble reveals cosmic Bat Shadow in the Serpent’s Tail [heic1819]

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured part of the wondrous Serpens Nebula, lit up by the star HBC 672. This young star casts a striking shadow – nicknamed the Bat Shadow – on the nebula behind it, revealing telltale signs of its otherwise invisible protoplanetary disc.

Galactic ghosts: Gaia uncovers major event in the formation of the Milky Way

ESA’s Gaia mission has made a major breakthrough in unravelling the formation history of the Milky Way. Instead of forming alone, our Galaxy merged with another large galaxy early in its life, around 10 billion years ago. The evidence is littered across the sky all around us, but it has taken Gaia and its extraordinary precision to show us what has been hiding in plain sight all along.

Politics / Politik

Space Force Discussions Increasingly Blur the Line Between Military and Civilian Space

Vice President Mike Pence recently was asked by Washington Post reporter Robert Costa: „What will the Space Force do?“ In his response, Pence did not run down a list of duties that might be assigned to the new military branch. But he did comment extensively on why he and the president feel strongly that a Space Force should be established.

Election Day 2018 Takes Absentee Ballots to the Extreme in Space

Even the International Space Station has a local polling site, thanks to a Texas law that arranges special absentee ballots for U.S. astronauts who are in orbit on Election Day. In order to vote from space, astronauts request a special absentee ballot about six months in advance, according to NASA. On the big day, they file their ballot electronically through a protected system. The process has been in use since 1997, when a U.S. astronaut voted from aboard the Russian Space Station Mir, which preceded the International Space Station.

Technology / Technologie

Rocket Lab Eyes ‚Business Time‘ with 1st Commercial Launch Next Week

It will soon be business time for spaceflight startup Rocket Lab. The California-based company plans to launch its first commercial mission, dubbed „It’s Business Time,“ next week. If all goes according to plan, a Rocket Lab Electron booster topped with six satellites and a technology demonstrator will lift off from the startup’s New Zealand launch site late on the night of Nov. 10.

SpaceX’s Starman mannequin is taking the ultimate road trip across the final frontier in Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster after launching into space on Feb. 6, 2018. See photos from the amazing flight here. In this image from before launch, the cherry-red Tesla Roadster inside the Falcon Heavy’s cavernous payload fairing.

Soyuz Rocket Successfully Launches Russian Navigation Satellite

Over the weekend, Russia completed its second successful Soyuz launch since the Oct. 11 failed crew launch, with liftoff taking place on Saturday (Nov. 3) at 11:17 p.m. local time (4:17 p.m. EDT, 2017 GMT). The launch, from a pad at Plesetsk Cosmodrome located about 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Moscow, put a navigation satellite called Glonass-M into orbit. A Soyuz-2.1b rocket was used during the launch — the same model as in Russia’s most recent launch, and a variation on the model used for crewed flights, including the Oct. 11 failure.

Science / Wissenschaft

2 Big NASA Space Missions Ended This Week, But Don’t Panic

t’s easy for a superstitious mind to jump to anxious conclusions from this week, after NASA announced the end of two long-running missions: the exoplanet-hunting Kepler space telescope and the Dawn mission that visited the asteroid belt. And those high-profile finales come in the midst of a spree of other spacecraft troubles: the Opportunity rover on Mars remains silent nearly five months after a planet-engulfing dust storm, and the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-Ray Observatory were both briefly offline in October. But as NASA personnel stressed during a news conference Tuesday (Oct. 30) to announce the end of the Kepler mission, the sudden spurt of bad news is no reason to panic. „We always try to get as much science as we can out of our spacecraft,“ Paul Hertz, NASA’s head of astrophysics in the Science Mission Directorate, said during the news conference, adding that the agency has more than 60 science spacecraft at work right now. [Gallery: A World of Kepler Planets]

What is space weather?

Our star dominates the environment within our Solar System. Unpredictable and temperamental, the Sun has made life on the inner planets impossible, due to the intense radiation combined with colossal amounts of energetic material it blasts in every direction, creating the ever-changing conditions in space known as ‘space weather’. Find out about the different elements of space weather in this new infographic, from the solar wind, to solar flares and coronal mass ejections.